During the negotiations to choose the new interim premier, three Tunisian parties withdrew from the talks due to their opposition to Jomaa's candidacy, Al Arabiya News Channel's correspondent reported.

The Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT), which has been working as a mediator in the dialogues, had originally given parties until 1100 GMT Saturday to find another candidate for the position, threatening to announce the failure of the talks.

The head of the powerful UGTT union announced the choice Saturday night of 50-year-old Mehdi Jomaa. He won the vote in a contentious forum of political parties, dubbed the "national dialogue," which began meeting in October. Jomaa has three weeks to form a government.

The union later announced on social networking site Facebook that the talks had been postponed until an unspecified time.

Late on arrival

The decision to postpone the meeting came after members from all parties were late to arrive at the talks, according to AFP.